This month marks 500 years since the first proper translation of the New Testament from the original Greek by William Tyndale, born just across the border in Gloucestershire.

25 volunteers took turns to read a section of the New Testament at Monmouth Baptist Church, in an 18-hour ‘Bible-a-thon’, as well as some of the history, last Saturday (July 19) starting at 6:30am and finishing late that night.

Rev Jonathan Greaves, minister of the church said, "It's an historic occasion!

“His English translation was banned, hunted down and burned, but it's legacy lives on today. In every day life, we still use some of his words and phrases like "peace-maker" - a word Tyndale himself invented.”

Born around 1494 in Gloucestershire, William Tyndale was a gifted scholar, fluent in several languages. But he was most passionate about the Bible—and getting it into the hands of common people. Until the early 1500s, the Bible was mostly locked away in Latin—only accessible to priests and scholars, and it was illegal to translate the Bible into English. The church feared that giving common people access to Scriptures would undermine their authority.

Tyndale defied his Bishop, and escaped to Germany where he completed the first ever English New Testament translated directly from Greek. His first edition was July 1525, quickly followed by a revised version, now known as the Tyndale translation in 1526. Copies were smuggled into England. After a decade on the run, he was betrayed, imprisoned and then executed. His final words were: “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes!”

Remarkably, just three years later, King Henry VIII authorized the publication of the English Bible, much of it based on Tyndale’s work, and 100 years later, nearly 80–90% of the King James Bible, comes from Tyndale’s original translations. Common phrases still used today came straight from his pen like “Let there be light,” “the powers that be,” and “fight the good fight”. And as well as the word "peacemaker" we still use some of the words Tyndale had to invent in order to convey the meaning of the Greek, including "passover" and "atonement." His words and courage, and the message of his translation have shaped British language and culture. But perhaps his most important impact is that he made the Bible and its message available to everyone, not just the educated or elite.

Tyndale's most famous verse in the Bible is still familiar today: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (Tyndale’s 1526 New Testament).

Rev Jonathan Greaves said "We still honour the great tradition of helping ordinary people read the Bible for themselves. Our church have lots of ways to look at and live out it's message. We'd love to help anyone interested in knowing more to contact us, or visit our services."

The event can be watched on their youtube channel. www.youtube.com\monmouthbaptistchurch